Flower T-shirt Tutorial - a Refashion

I made this flower t-shirt using a plain black t-shirt and a black and a white top that I was going to get rid off anyway. It was such a quick and easy project, and I am really pleased with the results. I took some pictures while I was making it, and decided to share..

Supplies needed:

A basic t-shirt (I used black)

Knit fabric in 2 colors (I used 2 old tops, black & white)

Lace

Matching thread

Begin by cutting flowers in 3 sizes using the knit fabric and the lace. I used my Bigshot, but you could also freehand them. Since you will layer them, and put lace on top of the lighter color, their shape won't matter as much. Also, once the t-shirt is washed the edges will curl up slightly, therefore the shape is not too important.

Then, lay out the flowers on your shirt. I used 2 of the big knit flowers, and one each of the smaller ones. Then I made sure that a piece of lace was on top of the white knit, so that the lace was more visible. 

Once you have found an arrangement that you like, pin the flowers down, and start sewing. 

This was really pretty easy. I used a straight stitch, starting in the center of the flower, and went back and forth in a straight line on each petal twice. In order to move on to the next petal, just make sure the needle is down, lift the presser foot, turn the fabric so that you're good to go for the next petal, put the presser foot back down, and repeat.

 Here are some close ups to show the flowers.

And that's all!

Hope you enjoy this mini tutorial, let me know if you have any questions!

I linked up to Brassy Apple, Blue Cricket Design, Tatertots and jello , Under the table and dreaming, CraftOManiac Monday, Young and Crafty, Sumo's Sweet Stuff and Sugar Bee Crafts. 

Why I love spray paint...

The past couple months I have had fun using spray paint. Both for things to use inside the house, as well as stuff for the yard. 

What I think is so great is that you can make anything boring suddenly look interesting again by changing its original color. And the best thing is that it's easy and quick!

I just have to be careful not to go overboard and paint everything I come across. 

Just a couple pictures of some things that I painted, unfortunately I don't have any 'before' pictures since I am pretty impulsive once I have a can of spray paint in my hands...

An old tin bucket that I use to keep my garden tools handy got a fresh layer of paint.

I love old window frames, picked this one up at a garage sale over a year ago, and it has been sitting in our garage ever since. I stayed away from the paint during my pregnancy, but not too long afterwards I just HAD to paint it. Now, what do I do with it?

I was thinking it would be neat to let some vines, like ivy, grow through it.

Another awesome idea I found on Craftberry Bush, but not sure if I have the patience to get the materials and do all the work. But doesn't this look pretty?

Picture from Craftberry Bush.

For now it has just been sitting on an old broken bench in our yard, just waiting till I make up my mind...

Another item I found at a garage sale is this flower cart. It was unfinished, and lived in our garage for 2 years! So finally I managed to get it painted. I want to put some flowers in it.

This birdhouse was just an unfinished wooden bird feeder. 

I love how it adds some color to our yard, think it will be especially nice once our yard has lost all its color during the winter months.

Party food

We have 2 birthdays in July. I have been wanting to post these pictures, but they're a little late. My husband's and daughter's birthday are only one day apart, and that usually results in us celebrating their birthdays together.

Although my hubby isn't picky, I tried to stay away from the typical pink girly party decorations and find something that would be cute for a little girl and a big guy :)

This color theme seemed to work for both of them.

I found some free printables that I really liked.

I used the printable Lots-o-dots to make the cupcake toppers. On the same site, there is also a printable mini banner. Both printables are so cute. I used the dots to make the round cupcake toppers, I printed them on textured cardstock, punched them out and attached them to short skewers. I used the banner printable to make the little flags.

After I was done making the flags, I had some extra pieces, so I also made a little banner and used that to decorate our ice cream cake.

(Recipe can be found here.)

Since a couple of my girls' cousins couldn't be at the party, we had another little party. 

This time it was a tea party, and I enjoyed making small treats: chocolate covered strawberries, mini chocolate cookies, mini cupcakes, heart shaped cheese & crackers, and I added some chips and watermelon. Just some small kid-friendly treats, that could also be enjoyed by the moms.

Since it was really hot, we had ice tea instead of hot tea, and strawberry lemonade. 

Faux Etched Glass Framed Quote - Tutorial

Today I combined two things that I had laying around here into this:

It cost me $6 to make this...

Very simple, but I really like it. So in case you want to make your own, I just took some pictures.

I started out with a picture frame from Walmart.

And a wall decor sticker from Dollar Tree.
They have several neat wall quote stickers - no, I don't get paid to say that, I just like to browse that place ;)

I took the glass out off the frame, and applied the sticker.

 Then, I used a box knife to cut off the back of the frame, that was attached to one of the sides. 

Since the hooks of the frame were attached to the part I took off, I had to find something else so that I could hang the frame later. After a quick search through my hubby's tool box I found these little guys:

Perfect for the job. I used a hammer to attach them. (If you want hooks, make sure to do this BEFORE you glue the glass to the frame.)  

Next, I used some E-6000 to attach the glass to the frame.

If you use that stuff, follow the directions on the tube. 

I put some books on the glass to weigh it down while the glue dried.

And voilà:

Think it looks really neat, and think it would even look better on a colored wall.

Another quick, cheap and easy project :)

Magnetic Pin Holder Bowl

I really like quick crafts: Especially these days with our little newborn in the house it's so nice to be able to create something that doesn't take hours. This project only takes minutes!

 I saw this great idea of a Magnetic Pin Holder Bowl at Sawdust and Paper Scraps. Sandra takes a simple glass bowl and candle holder and creates this cute pin holder, using spray paint, a magnet and some glue. Now, that is a simple project! I had a very ugly magnetic pin holder, so I just took the magnet out of it and used that. I did already have some spray paint on hand. (You can never have too much of that, right?!) Since I didn't have a primer on hand, I skipped that step. Not sure if I'll regret that later, but on my can of spray paint it said it would work on glass, too, and it seems to hold.

Anyway, here is my little copycat project:

Two candle holders from Dollar Tree, spray painted with Krylon spray paint.

Added a magnet, and glued it together, to make this magnetic pin holder.  

Love it!

Handmade baby gifts

I love to get handmade gifts for our little girl. I have not been doing too much in the creative department lately, but thought I'd show you a couple handmade gifts that I received and that I really enjoy.

My friend Katie made some cute things for our baby girl.

She made her some pretty burp cloths, using soft and pretty flannel:

And this cute onesie, using reverse applique:

Isn't this pretty?

If you want to see more of her creations, you can check it out at Crafted by KatieB.

It's definitely worth a look!

(I 'borrowed' the pictures from her blog)

Flower Party

With a newborn in the house, I am sort of behind with pictures, but just thought I'd share some pictures to show what we did at the birthday party we had for our oldest!

Some cupcakes for her classmates and our family birthday party...

And different ones for the kids' party...

Party favors  

  

With tags that match these party invitations

More party favors that double as decoration

Little purses to decorate ...

with rubber stickers

 We made our own party leis...

with flowers I punched out of tissue paper with my BigShot and straws...